Morning Meetings
by KidTantei
Summary: 'Twas once upon a Domo pencil case.  For Mishie Eru, from your Secret Santa


I've never done KokoxMikan before, and romance isn't my thing. But I tried my best, I swear. I just don't know what to think about the ending. (Gakuen Alice and Domo are **disclaimed**.)

This is for **Takishima Mich **or _Michi-trippie_. Your Secret Santa says Merry Christmas, and sorry that your name got the misfortune of it being drawn by her. (:

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><p>"Domo Domo Domo," chanted Koko. His permanent smile widened as he waved the arms sewed onto his pencil case, designed after the said character. In his opinion, nothing could possibly be cuter than—<p>

"DOMO!" came a familiar shrill voice. Koko did not need to look up to know who it was; but being a guy who went with the flow, he knew the flow required him to look up. When he did, his eyes fell on a brunette running towards him, her backpack rhythmically banging on her back and an apple in her hand. Koko quickly pressed the case to his chest.

"Domo hates apples!" he chirped. Mikan stopped dead in her tracks, the ghost of a terrified look on her face.

"Oh! I'll finish this outside, then."

Before she could start to walk away, the furry pencil case hugged her arm. Mikan looked at Koko, shocked.

"Domo wants you to stay."

"But Domo hates apples!" protested Mikan.

"So you don't want to stay with Domo and me?" Koko pouted. Mikan did the same.

"No, I was just being courteous…"

As the brunette made her way to her seat, Koko found his mind empty of all other minds. Once again, the nullification was doing its wonders. Just as he was starting to enjoy the silence in his mind, the brunette spoke up.

"Why are you here so early?"

"I should be asking you that," Koko grinned. "You're usually late for class."

Mikan became flustered. She grabbed the chair in front of Koko and turned it to face him with much more force than necessary.

"I-I just woke up early, is all."

_Mikan is a terrible liar_, Koko mused. _Not that I didn't know that yet._

"You and Natsume had a fight again, and you couldn't sleep," he guessed. Mikan flinched. _She's really too easy to read._

"How did you know? I-I thought I was nullifying your alice!"

"You were. I was just guessing," Koko informed. Mikan's face stayed surprised for a few seconds, until it contorted to one of defeat, like a lost puppy. Slowly, thought by thought, memory by memory, Koko regained control of his alice. Snippets of the night before filled his mind.

"He called me an idiot again," Mikan narrated, trying to hold back tears. "I'm fine with that, 'cause, you know, I get called that everyday. So naturally, I called him a pervert."

Koko caught a glimpse of the scene in Mikan's room at night. The couple was fighting beside Mikan's bed. Mikan was more flustered than was healthy for her, and Natsume was clearly more agitated than usual. Koko suddenly saw Natsume hiding something behind his back – but what?

"Then we argued, back and forth, and I said something… bad…"

_I went too far,_ Koko heard in his mind.

"T-Then he said he couldn't stand fighting like that everyday, and he—"

'_I'm breaking up with you. Enjoy single-blessedness, Sakura.'_ The girl in the memory and the one sitting before Koko burst into tears.

"_Pervert!"_

"_Pig."_

"_Baka! You're such a big idiot!"_

"_Aren't you talking about yourself?"_

"_I'm not conceited like you!"_

Seeing Mikan cry was an often occasion, and there was always the pity and the urge to comfort. But seeing her cry due to heartbreak made him want to punch the cause of it. He would if he could, but this was Natsume they were talking about. Even being within a mile radius of Mikan during this time would probably set him off; and Natsume was one of those people in the worst moods when set off. He was one of those people you just never mess with.

Besides, Koko knew Hotaru was sitting just outside the room, ready to pass on information, for blackmail and a large sum. She took some kind of anti-mind-reading drugs, but some thoughts slipped, and Koko heard them. The bottom line is that hugging Mikan would've caused a lot of trouble, so Koko did what he wanted to do in the subtlest and safest way possible.

He made Domo hug Mikan, wrapping its tiny arms around her shoulder. He knew his sharpener or his eraser or the tip of his pen must be poking out somewhere, but if it was, Mikan didn't realize. She seemed to appreciate the hug from the mini-creature, because she hugged it back. Tears still stained her cheeks, but they had stopped.

"Right now, Mikan, you have two choices. One, make Natsume realize his mistake of letting a great girl like you go, or two, find someone else," Koko's grin turned playful. "You know I'm free tonight."

Mikan let out a soft laugh and hit Koko's arm with his own pencil case before chucking it at him. "You're not going to be my… what's it called… rebound."

"I'm only a rebound if you end up going back to Natsume," Koko let a soft smile replace his grin. "I'm never going to be a rebound, so you have to stick to your choice."

"Well, I'm never going back to that jerk. He broke up with me, so he has to suffer. So I guess we can go to Central Town today, then…"

"I'll get you some Howalon?"

"Yes please! I'm running out of stock. Natsume never offers to buy me Howalon!" Mikan laughed and hastily rubbed at her eyes.

"I hear people coming. Better wipe those tears away quickly! Here, Domo will help!" Koko shoved the furry object to the area around Mikan's eyes, pushing and squishing and successfully making the spot redder than it already was and making Mikan laugh louder. Koko was glad that Natsume wasn't one of the people who came early to class, and after hearing their thoughts – _what are those idiots doing?_ – he was sure Natsume wouldn't be finding out about this incident any time soon; unless Mikan speaks of it, of course.

"By the way, you never answered why you came to class early," reminded Mikan.

"I wanted to spend some intimate time with Domo," joked Koko. Mikan's eyes widened and her look was priceless enough for Koko to continue. "Maybe tomorrow again, you can join us."

"Sure!" Mikan chirped, finally regaining her cheerfulness. "Any time spent with Domo is time spent awesomely!"

Koko cocked an eyebrow, and he heard Mikan think _'What?'_

"Are you sure you don't just want to spend more time with me instead of Domo?" As soon as the words left his mouth, a (literally) mind-blowing _"WHAT?"_ came from Mikan's thoughts.

"I'm sure!" she yelled indignantly. Koko grinned. He leaned over the table to give Mikan a hug, which she gingerly returned.

"Okay, you should go back to your seat now. I can hear Ruka's mental death threats to Hotaru." Mikan giggled when Koko cringed. "His mind can be a dark, dark place sometimes."

Very slowly, thoughts that came from Ruka started to disappear.

"Hurry, Mikan, save me!" cried Koko, faking distress. What better way to lighten the mood than by being dramatic? Mikan's snorts and giggles confirmed it.

"There, done." Mikan stood and rotated the chair she was previously sitting on. "See you later, non-rebound Koko!"

… Well, it was a start.


End file.
